CLIP, or Continuous Liquid Interface Production, ensured a more durable, reliable and cost-effective process to produce the models.

Though just a small university in Wisconsin, MSOE boasts a Rapid Prototyping Center (RPC) which aim to help companies bring 3D-printed instructional kits for the biosciences to market. As one of Carbon’s customers, MSOE enables its 45-strong consortium to share access to the university’s investments in the latest additive technologies and benefit from the RPC’s prototyping and production resources. Support from members covers capital equipment costs and operational expenses, which then benefits MSOE students who also have access to the additive lab for design projects.

More recently, this facility has been used to better teach sciences. Several of the parts in the molecular kit were simple enough that they could be injection moulded. Two parts, however, use multiple ball-and-stem snap fit connections, which are more geometrically complex, and thus expensive using injection moulding techniques. That’s when Carbon, its CLIP process and its Rigid Polyurethane (RPU) material entered the equation.

“One of the key features for this part was the ability to be snapped and unsnapped by users many times,” said Vince Anewenter, Manager of MSOE’s RPC. “We initially printed a nylon prototype, which worked in the beginning, however after several cycles it became loose and fatigued. That’s what made me think of Carbon: surface finish that is second-to-none, without sacrificing durability and performance.

“Given the tight tolerances of the complex snap fit features, we were impressed to see no discernible differences across the builds or within the platform.”

Carbon MSOE science timothy herman

Thanks to CLIP, and MSOE and 3D Molecular Design’s efforts the country can now have access to high quality, economically viable educational tools.

In the low volume production of complex, high-quality parts such as this project, CLIP provided a solution that no other manufacturing process could match. The process became increasingly efficient and more cost-effective than injection moulding. When the 3D Molecular Designs (3DMD) team, who worked alongside MSOE, had the part quaoted for injection moulding they quickly realised the price of tooling alone made the product cost prohibitive to bring to market.

“Injection moulding often isn’t economically viable under quantities of 10k, and until you know it’s going to be a big seller for you, it’s tough to commit to quantities that make it cost effective – especially when you’re talking about educational training tools,” said Dr Timothy Herman, founder of 3DMD. “We wanted to test the piece and the market.”

To date, 3D Molecular Designs has printed 500 kits, comprising of around 1,000 parts, using the CLIP process. Since the success of this pilot project, there are now plans to upsurge production and deliver more of these kits to the field. Thanks to CLIP, and MSOE and 3D Molecular Design’s efforts the country can now have access to high quality, economically viable educational tools.

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